University  of  California— College  of  Agriculture. 

AGRICULTURAL  EXPERIMENT  STATION, 

E.  W.  HILGARD,   Director. 


BENCH-GRAFTING  RESISTANT  VINES 


F.  T.  Bioletti  and  A.  M.  dal  Piaz. 


1— Solonis.    2— Rupestris  St.  George.    3— Riparia  Gloire  de 
Montpellier. 


BULLETIN  No.  127. 


SACRAMENTO: 
A.  J.  Johnston,       :       :       Superintendent  of  State  Printing. 

1900. 


BENCH-GRAFTING  RESISTANT  VINES. 


The  conviction  that  the  vineyardist  has  to  deal  with  the 
phylloxera  as  a  factor  in  the  success  or  failure  of  his  business 
becomes  stronger  every  day.  This  applies  both  to  the  grape- 
grower  who  already  has  bearing  vines  and  to  the  intending 
grape-grower  who  is  engaged  in  planting  his  vines.  Each 
succeeding  year  sees  new  vineyards  and  new  localities  attacked, 
and  grape-growers  who  believed  their  vines  safe  on  account  of 
the  richness  or  sandy  nature  of  their  soils,  the  practice  of 
irrigation,  or  the  isolation  of  their  vineyards,  are  gradually 
being  forced  to  change  their  belief  by  the  sad  fact  of  the  death 
of  their  vines.  Yet  there  are  still  many  who  fail  to  realize  the 
true  nature  of  this  disease,  and  even  now  there  are  growers  who 
are  planting  varieties  of  vinifera  on  their  own  roots  in  locali- 
ties adjacent  to  infected  districts  and  even  in  the  infected 
districts  themselves. 

Even  those  who  are  thoroughly  persuaded  of  the  necessity  of 
establishing  their  vines  upon  resistant  roots  are  in  doubt  as  to 
what  species  or  variety  to  choose. 

When  the  phylloxera  first  invaded  the  lower  parts  of  the 
.Sonoma  and  Napa  valleys,  over  twenty  years  ago,  the  vine- 
yardists  were  completely  unprepared  for  it  and  unable  to 
combat  it  in  any  way;  so  most  of  them  allowed  the  insect  to 
have  undisputed  sway,  with  the  result  that  the  vineyards  dis- 
appeared. A  few  of  the  more  intelligent  growers,  however, 
tried  the  method,  first  practiced  in  France,  of  planting  resistant 
stocks.  The  principal  varieties  planted  were  Riparia  and 
Lenoir.  Other  varieties  were  planted  in  small  quantities  by  a 
few  growers,  but  most  of  them  are  at  present  of  little  interest. 
The  results  varied  widely.  Though  a  certain  number  of  vine- 
yards were  fairly  or  even  perfectly  successful,  the  majority 
were  total  or  partial  failures.  This  lack  of  general  success  was 
due  to  three  principal  causes : 

1.  Many  of  the  soils  and  locations  were  unsuitable  for  the 
growth  of  either  Riparia  or  Lenoir. 


_  4  — 

2.  The  Riparia  cuttings  used  were  not  of  one  variety,  some 
being  very  small  growers,  unable  to  support  a  large  vinifera. 

3.  The  Lenoir  is  not  sufficiently  resistant  in  all  soils,  and 
therefore  failed  to  give  full  crops  on  any  but  the  best  soils. 

To  these  should  be  added,  in  many  cases,  ignorance  of  the 
methods  of  planting  and  grafting  resistant  stocks. 

Ten  or  fifteen  years  later  the  coast  valleys  south  of  San 
Francisco,  which  the  vine-growers  had  hitherto  considered 
immune  for  some  mysterious  reason,  were  attacked.  They 
were  just  as  unprepared  as  the  vine-growers  of  Napa  and 
Sonoma  had  been  when  their  vineyards  were  attacked.  It  is 
in  order  to  prevent  any  further  unpreparedness  and  conse- 
quent costly  mistakes  that  vine-growers  of  uninfected  loca- 
tions are  earnestly  advised  to  commence  now  to  test  the  most 
promising  resistant  stocks  on  their  own  places,  in  order  to 
determine  which  of  these  is  most  suitable  for  the  conditions  of 
the  soil,  climate,  and  moisture  that  exist  there.  This  is 
especially  true  of  such  localities  as  Fresno  and  others  in  the 
lower  San  Joaquin  Valley,  where  there  are  large  stretches  of 
contiguous  vineyards  as  yet  uninfected. 

The  phylloxera  is  as  menacing  a  foe  to  the  "  raisin-grower  "  as 
to  the  "wine-grower,"  and  it  would  be  well  worth  while  for  every 
vineyardist  in  California,  not  only  to  test  various  resistants,  but 
also  to  learn  the  methods  of  bench  or  cutting  grafting  and  all 
the  various  processes  of  establishing  a  vineyard  on  resistant 
roots.  Then,  when  the  insect  enters  his  own  or  his  neighbor's 
vineyard  he  will  know  exactly  what  to  plant  and  how  to  plant 
it,  and  not  be  obliged  to  experiment  for  three  or  four  years  or 
trust  to  the  experience  of  some  one  else  whose  conditions  may 
differ  in  some  way  from  his  and  thus  run  the  risk  of  making 
costly  failures. 

The  work  of  the  Experiment  Station  in  this  line  for  the  last 
two  or  three  years  has  been  to  establish  some  general  princi- 
ples to  guide  the  individual  grower  in  his  own  attempts  and  to 
narrow  the  scope  of  his  experiments  in  order  that  he  may  not 
waste  his  time  on  methods  and  varieties  which  have  already 
been  proved  valueless.  Our  conclusions  have  been  based  on 
observations  of  our  own  experiments  and  also  of  the  successes 
and  failures  of  grape-growers  in  various  parts  of  the  State. 
These  observations  have  so  far  been  directed  principally  to: 


-  5  — 

1.  The  adaptability  of  various  resistant  varieties  to  different 
conditions  of  soil,  climate,  and  moisture. 

2.  The  best  method  of  grafting  for  various  varieties  and 
conditions. 

3.  The  growth  of  various  vinifera  varieties  upon  various 
resistant  stocks. 

The  problems  presented  by  the  phylloxera  were  studied  by 
Prof.  E.  W.  Hilgard  very  early  at  this  Station,  and  a  certain 
amount  of  attention  has  been  given  by  the  Station  since  then 
to  methods  of  extermination  of  the  insect  and  to  resistant 
stock.  The  results  of  this  work  having  already  been  pub- 
lished, the  present  article  deals  only  with  the  work  done  dur- 
ing and  since  1896.  In  that  year  Professor  A.  P.  Hayne,  of 
this  department,  imported  the  following  resistant  varieties, 
which  were  recommended  as  the  best  in  France  for  soils  similar 
to  our  California  soils:  Rupestris  St.  George,  Riparia  Gloire  de 
Montpellier,  Riparia  grande  glabre,  Riparia  Martin.  These 
varieties  were  as  widely  distributed  over  the  various  vineyard 
districts  as  possible,  and  particular  satisfaction  was  given  by 
the  first  two  mentioned. 

In  1897  the  Station  continued  this  work  of  distribution  and 
put  upon  its  "Distribution  List"  Rupestris  St.  George,  Riparia 
Gloire  de  Montpellier,  Riparia  grande  glabre,  and  Solonis.  A 
more  limited  distribution  was  also  made  of  Rupestris  Martin, 
Rupestris  Mission,  Rupestris  Ganzin,  Champini ;  and  of  three 
hybrids  of  Rupestris  crossed  with  Riparia,  viz,  Rup.  X  Rip. 
10114,  Rup.  X  Rip.  3306,  Rup.  X  Rip.  3309. 

In  the  same  year  the  Station  published  an  appendix  to  the 
Viticultural  Report  of  1896,  entitled  "Resistant  Vines,"  by 
Professor  Hayne,  in  which  was  given  a  summary  of  what  is 
known  in  France  of  the  practical  selection  and  adaptation  of 
resistant  vines  and  also  of  the  methods  of  grafting  adapted  to 
these  vines.  During  the  years  1898  and  1899  the  two  varieties 
which  seemed  to  have  given  the  most  general  satisfaction  and 
for  which  there  was  the  most  demand  were  again  placed  upon 
the  "Distribution  List."  These  varieties  were  Rupestris  St. 
George  and  Riparia  Gloire  de  Montpellier. 

In  1898  the  Station  decided  to  make  a  series  of  practical 
experiments  with  these  recently  imported  resistants  and  on 
various  methods  of  grafting,  in  order  to  bring  the  matter  before 
the  vine-growers  of  California  in  a  practical  form,  and  also  to 


—  6  - 

throw  light  on  some  doubtful  points.  This  it  was  enabled  to 
do  by  the  public  spirit  of  Mr.  J.  K.  Moffitt  of  the  First  National 
Bank  of  San  Francisco,  who  kindly  allowed  us  to  use  a  portion 
of  his  vineyard  at  St.  Helena,  Napa  County,  for  our  experiments. 
These  experiments  were  planned  on  a  somewhat  elaborate 
scale,  but  unfortunately  were  almost  a  complete  failure,  on 
account  of  the  bad  condition  of  the  resistant  cuttings  when 
they  arrived  from  France.  There  were  imported  9,300  cuttings 
of  various  varieties,  and  of  these  about  eighty-five  per  cent 
were  completely  spoiled.  They  were  packed  with  the  greatest 
care,  but  had  somewhere  been  exposed  to  too  much  heat 
(probably  on  the  steamer)  and  had  suffered  a  fermentation 
which  had  completely  blackened  the  pith  and  inner  bark. 
These  were  planted  out  in  the  nursery  without  grafting,  but 
failed  to  grow.  The  remainder  were  a  little  better,  but  were 
full  of  dark  streaks,  showing  that  they  also  had  suffered  from 
the  heat  but  in  a  less  degree.  These  were  grafted,  and  the  ill- 
success  of  the  grafts  was  undoubtedly  due  to  this  bad  condition 
of  the  stocks.  This  showed  the  danger  of  importing  large 
quantities  of  cuttings  from  so  distant  a  place,  and  it  was 
determined  for  the  next  year's  experiments  to  use  only  cuttings 
grown  in  California. 

Adaptability  of  Various  Varieties  of  Vinifera  to  Various 
Resistant  Stocks. — One  of  the  principal  experiments  made  was  to 
test  the  adaptability  of  certain  vinifera  varieties  for  different 
stocks  ;  that  is  to  say,  to  test  on  which  resistant  stocks  certain 
varieties  did  best.  The  negative  results  (the  cases  in  which  there 
was  very  poor  or  no  growth)  of  course  taught  nothing,  as  it  was 
impossible  to  tell  whether  the  failure  was  due  to  lack  of  affinity 
of  the  scion  for  the  stock,  or  simply  to  the  bad  condition  of  the 
stock.  The  positive  results,  where  there  was  good  growth  and 
good  unions,  are  however  worth  chronicling. 

The  varieties  which  grew  well  and  made  good  unions  on 
Riparia  Gloire  de  Montpellier  were : 

Aramon  Folle  Blanche  Mar-sanne  Seedless  Sultana 

Blue  Portuguese     Gros  Mansenc  Peruno  Semillon 

Chardonay  Kleinberger  Petit  Bouschet         Valdepefias 


Those  which  did  well  on  Riparia  grande  glabre  were: 

Aramon  Cornichon  Marsanne  Sultanina 

Cabernet  Sauvig-  Fresa  Mataro  Verdot 

non  Gros  Mansenc  Mourisco  Preto  Vernaccia 

Chardonay  Huasco  Semillon 

Those  which  did  well  on  Rupestris  St.  George  were: 

Barbera  Kleinberger  Palomino  Seedless  Sultana 

Beba  Mantuo  de  Pilas  Peruno  Valdepenas 

Cornichon  Marsanne  Petit  Bouschet  Vernaccia 

Franken  Riesling  #• 

All  these  made  good  growth,  and  the  unions  were  all  appar- 
ently strong  and  well  formed.  They  were  planted  out  in  the 
spring  of  1899  in  three  rows  of  twenty-five  vines  each,  in  order 
to  watch  their  future  development.  Besides  these  were 
planted  out  two  rows  of  twenty-five  vines  each,  as  follows: 
One  row  of  Mondeuse  grafted  on  Riparia  grande  glabre,  one 
row  of  Mondeuse  grafted  on  Rupestris  St.  George,  and  one 
vine  of  Mondeuse  grafted  on  Rupestris  X  Riparia  3306. 

Eleven  other  rows  of  ungrafted  varieties  were  planted,  as 
follows :  One  row  each  of  Pinot  Cabernet  du  Lac,  and  Hybrid 
Franc;  two  rows  each  of  Rupestris  Martin,  Rupestris  X  Riparia 
101 14,  Rupestris  X  Riparia  3309,  and  Rupestris  St.  George; 
one  row  each  of  Vialla  and  Rupestris  Mission. 

On  December  29,  1899,  the  following  notes  were  taken  on  the 
foregoing  vines: 

Varieties  Grafted  on  Riparia  Gloire  de  Montpellier. 

Blue  Portuguese  Strong  growth,  canes  3  feet  long,  but  not  very  well 
ripened. 

Chardonay.    Medium  growth.     One  dead. 

Fresa.    Poor  growth. 

Folle  Blanche.    Medium  growth. 

Gros  Mansenc.    Good,  strong  growth,  canes  3  feet  long. 

Kleinberger.    Medium  growth. 

Marsanne.    Good,  strong  growth,  3  feet  long.    One  graft  dead. 

Peruno.    Medium  growth,  shoots  still  green,  except  at  the  base. 

Petit  Bouschet.     Medium  growth. 

Seedless  Sultana.    Medium  growth  and  wood  still  green,  except  at  the  base. 

Semillon.    Medium  growth. 

Valdepenas.    Good  growth  of  thoroughly  ripened  wood. 

Vernaccia.    Medium  to  poor  growth. 

Varieties  Grafted  on  Riparia  Grande  Glabre. 

Aramon.     Growth  poor,  about  1  foot. 

Cabernet  Sauvignon.     Growth  good. 

Chardonay.    Good  growth,  some  shoots  3  feet  long. 


—  8  — 

Cornichon.    Medium  growth,  about  2  feet. 

Fresa.    Medium  growth,  about  2  feet. 

Gros  Mansenc.    Growth  about  1  foot. 

Huasco.    Good  growth,  shoots  about  3  feet  long,  but  still  green  at  the  tips. 

Marsanne.    Excellent  growth  of  ripe  wood. 

Mataro.    From  1  to  2  feet  of  growth. 

Mourisco  Preto.    Good  growth. 

Semillon.    Growth  about  2  feet.     One  graft  dead. 

Sultanina.    Many  shoots,  but  green  at  the  tips. 

Verdot.    Poor  growth.     One  graft  dead. 

Vernaccia.    Poor  growth,  thin  shoots  2  feet  long. 

Varieties  Grafted  on  Rupestris  St.  George. 

Barber  a.    Medium  growth. 

Beba.    Fine  growth. 

Cornichon.     Medium  growth. 

Franken  Riesling.     Long  growth,  tips  still  green. 

Kleinberger.    Long  thin  canes. 

Mantuo  de  Pilas.    Poor  growth. 

Marsanne.     Small  growth. 

Palomino.    Very  vigorous  growth  of  8  or  9  canes  to  a  vine. 

Peruno.    Strong  growth. 

Petit  Bouschet.    Vigorous  growth,  strong  canes. 

Sultana.    Good  growth. 

Valdepenas.    Good  growth. 

Vernaccia.    Medium  growth. 

The  one  graft  of  Mondeuse  on  Rupestris  X  Riparia  3309  had  made  a  very 
good  growth. 

The  row  of  Mondeuse  grafted  on  Riparia  grande  glabre  had  grown  well, 
with  the  exception  of  one  graft,  which  was  dead. 

The  row  of  Mondeuse  grafted  on  Rupestris  St.  George  was  more  irregular. 
Two  vines  were  dead  and  five  had  lost  the  Mondeuse  scion,  and  the  Rupes- 
tris was  growing  from  suckers.  Where  the  Mondeuse  was  growing,  however, 
it  was  on  the  whole  more  vigorous  than  in  the  last  row. 

Varieties  on  Their  Own  Roots. 

Pinot  Cabernet  du  Lac.  This  variety  made  very  poor  growth.  Most  of  the 
vines  lived,  but  the  canes  were  only  a  few  inches  long.  The  soil,  which  was 
black  adobe,  was  evidently  unsuited  to  this  vine. 

Hybrid  Franc.  The  growth  of  this  variety  was  more  irregular  than  that 
of  the  last,  and  no  stronger.  A  few  vines  had  made  medium  growth,  but 
many  were  dead  and  the  majority  were  very  poor. 

Rupestris  Martin.  This  resistant  made  a  fair  growth ;  in  some  cases  the 
canes  were  4  to  5  feet  long,  but  not  thick. 

Rupestris  X  Riparia  101u.    Fair  growth  of  2  to  3  feet. 

Rupestris  X  Riparia  3309.  Fair  growth,  somewhat  longer  and  stronger 
than  the  last. 

Rupestris  St.  George.  Growth  good  to  very  good ;  many  canes  to  each 
vine. 

Vialla.    Good  growth  of*shoots  2  to  3  feet  long. 

Rupestris  Mission.     Good  growth,  but  the  canes  were  rather  thin. 


—  9  — 

Experiments  Made  in  1899. 

The  experiments  carried  out  this  year  consisted  chiefly  of 
tests  of  various  methods  of  grafting  and  of  planting  in  the 
nursery. 

The  cuttings  used  as  stock  in  these  experiments  were : 

1.  Rupestris  St.  George,  3,000  from  Beringer  Bros.,  St.  Helena. 

2.  Riparia  Gloire  de  Montpellier,  100  from  John  Swett  &  Son,  Martinez. 

3.  Lenoir,  96  from  G.  Husmann,  Napa. 

4.  American  Rulander,  26  from  G.  Husmann,  Napa. 

5.  Herbemont,  21  from  G.  Husmann,  Napa. 

6.  Cunningham,  27  from  G.  Husmann,  Napa. 

7.  America,  10  (rooted,  1  year  old)  from  W.  B.  Munson,  Texas. 

8.  Champini,  10  (rooted,  1  year  old)  from  W.  B.  Munson,  Texas. 

9.  Elvicand,  7  (rooted,  1  year  old)  from  W.  B.  Munson,  Texas. 

10.  Munson,  13  (rooted,  1  year  old)  from  W.  B.  Munson,  Texas. 

The  following  varieties  were  used  as  scions : 

11.  Zinfandel,  from  J.  K.  Moffit,  St.  Helena. 

12.  Mondeuse,  from  J.  K.  Moffit,  St.  Helena. 

13.  Tokay,  from  John  Swett  &  Son,  Martinez. 

14.  Ferrara,  from  John  Swett  &  Son,  Martinez. 

The  following  varieties  were  used  for  rooting  experiments: 

15.  Rupestris  St.  George,  from  Beringer  Bros.,  St.  Helena. 

16.  Riparia  Gloire  de  Montpellier,  from  John  Swett  &  Son,  Martinez. 

17.  Solonis,  from  John  Swett  &  Son,  Martinez. 

The  main  objects  of  this  series  of  experiments  were  to 
ascertain  the  relative  value  of : 

(a)  The  English  graft  and  the  Champin  graft. 

(b)  Leaving  two  eyes  on  the  scions  and  leaving  only  one. 

(c)  Preliminary  callusing  in  sand,  and  planting  out  in  the 
nursery  immediately  after  grafting. 

(d)  Callusing  in  sand  alone  and  in  straw  covered  with  sand. 

(e)  Rupestris  St.  George,  Riparia  Gloire  de  Montpellier, 
Lenoir,  Herbemont,  Cunningham,  and  American  Rulander  as 
regards  root  formation  when  bench-grafted. 

(/)  Rupestris  St.  George,  Riparia  Gloire  de  Montpellier, 
and  Solonis  as  regards  rooting  when  not  grafted. 

Light  was  thrown  on  other  points,  such  as  the  possibility  of 
grafting  successfully  various  varieties  of  different  habit,  such 
as  the  small-growing  Zinfandel  and  the  large-growing  Ferrara, 
upon  Rupestris  St.  George. 


—  10  — 
Grafting. 

Preparation  of  Cuttings  for  Grafting. —  The  Rupestris  St. 
George  cuttings  used  for  grafting-stock  were  in  excellent  con- 
dition at  the  beginning  of  the  grafting  season,  as  they  were 
kept  under  cover  in  moist  sand  during  the  winter.  The  cut- 
tings were  less  than  two  feet  long,  rather  short  jointed,  and 
generally  too  thick  at  the  lower  end  and  too  thin  at  the  upper 
for  grafting.  This  was  doubtless  due  to  the  dry  summer,  which 
resulted  in  a  short  growth,  and  it  was  rarely  possible  to  obtain 
more  than  one  graft  from  a  cutting.  The  sizes  used  for  graft- 
ing varied  from  J  to  \  inch  in  diameter.  The  thin  tips  which 
could  not  be  used  for  grafting  were  put  out  in  the  nursery  for 
rooting. 

The  cuttings  were  all  treated  in  the  same  way  for  the  various 
experiments,  as  follows:  They  were  cut  into  sections  of  from 
6  to  9  inches;  the  lower  cut  was  made  through  the  knot  of  the 
bud;  the  last  internode  of  the  upper  end  was  left  as  long  as 
possible,  as  the  internodes  were  of  rather  short  length,  some- 
times scarcely  long  enough  for  the  grafting  cut.  Special  care 
was  given  to  the  perfect  removal  of  all  of  the  buds  on  the  stock, 
a  deep  cut  being  made  in  order  to  remove  not  only  the  main 
bud,  but  also  the  small  adventitious  or  dormant  buds  which 
surround  its  base  and  which  often  grow  out  when  not  care- 
fully excised  and  form  suckers,  which  grow  at  the  expense  of 
the  graft.  The  cuttings  thus  prepared  were  sorted  into  three 
sizes  according  to  their  thickness,  put  up  in  bundles,  and 
placed  vertically  in  a  tub  of  water,  so  that  the  lower  end  was 
covered  with  water;  the  cuttings  thus  remained  fresh  and 
sappy,  which  facilitated  greatly  the  making  of  cuts.  The  cut- 
tings remained  in  the  water  until  they  were  needed  for  grafting, 
that  is  to  say  for  from  6  to  18  hours. 

The  washing  and  placing  in  water  had  also  the  object  of 
cleaning  the  cuttings  from  all  adhering  dirt  and  sand,  which 
would  blunt  the  edge  of  the  sharpest  grafting  knife  in  a  short 
time. 

The  scions  were  prepared  in  a  similar  way,  with  the  excep- 
tion, of  course,  that  the  eyes  were  left.  Two  kinds  of  scions 
were  needed  for  the  experiments:  one  with  one  eye,  the  other 
with  two  eyes.  The  first  kind  was  cut  through  the  second  knot 
so  as  to  leave  the  eye  protected  by  a  closed  internode,  which  on 


—  li- 
the one  hand  prevented  penetration  of  moisture  and  of  fungi, 
and  on  the  other  hand  drying-out  of  the  part  above  the  eye. 
Scions  of  the  second  kind  (with  two  eyes)  were  treated  differ- 
ently in  order  not  to  make  them  too  long,  the  upper  cut  being 
made  about  an  inch  above  the  second  eye. 

The  scions  were  also  sorted  into  three  sizes  corresponding 
with  those  of  the  stock,  tied  up  in  bundles,  and  put  in  water  to 
keep  them  fresh  and  sappy. 

Methods  of  Grafting. — Before  grafting,  the  cuttings  for  both 
stock  and  scions  having  been  carefully  sorted  into  three  sizes, 
and  the  eyes  of  those  of  the  stock  cut  out  deeply  with  a  sharp 
knife  in  order  to  prevent  the  production  of  suckers,  the  greatest 
care  was  taken  to  prevent  the  slightest  drying-out  of  the  cut- 
tings and  afterwards  of  the  grafts. 

The  raffia  used  for  binding  the  grafts  was  soaked  in  a  three 
per  cent  solution  of  bluestone  (copper  sulphate)  for  one  day 
and  then  hung  up  to  dry.  Before  using,  it  was  thoroughly 
washed  in  running  water  to  remove  the  superfluous  bluestone. 
The  raffia  was  cut  into  short  pieces  of  10  to  12  inches  and  then 
kept  in  a  box,  moist  and  ready  for  use. 

The  grafting  knife  was  not  of  the  pattern  generally  used  in 
California,  but  was  one  especially  constructed  for  Champin  and 
English  tongue  grafting;  it  had  a  wooden  handle  4^  inches  long 
to  give  the  hand  a  firm  grasp,  a  straight  and  very  thin  blade  of 
excellent  steel  which  was  easy  to  sharpen  and  which  kept  its 
edge  for  a  considerable  time.  A  good  hone  and  a  razor  strop 
were  used  for  sharpening  the  knife. 

The  object  of  the  experiment  in  methods  of  grafting  was  to 
ascertain  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  the  two  most 
commonly  practiced  methods,  viz:  the  English  graft  and  a 
modification  of  the  old  Champin  graft;  the  first  is  universally 
used  in  European  vine-nurseries,  the  latter  is  less  practiced 
there,  but  is  frequently  used  in  California. 

English  Cleft  or  Whip  Grafting. — This  method  was  applied 
in  the  usual  way,  as  shown  in  Fig.  I.  The  stock  and  scion 
were  chosen  of  equal  size  and  were  cut  at  the  same  angle.  The 
length  of  the  cut  surface,  in  cuttings  of  solid  texture  and  full 
size,  was  about  three  times  the  diameter  of  the  cuttings,  that  is 
to  say  the  cut  was  made  at  an  angle  of  about  19°.     This  may 


12 


be  taken  as  the  maximum  angle  that  can  be  used  practically. 
For  smaller  cuttings  the  length  of  the  cut  was  relatively 
somewhat  greater,  being  about  four  times  the  diameter  or 
about  14°,  which  may  be  taken  as  the  minimum  angle 
which  should  be  adopted.  The  tongues  were  made  by  a  longi- 
tudinal cut,  care  being  taken  not  to  split  the  wood,  and  usually 
commenced  at  about  one  third  the  distance  from  the  sharp  end 
of  the  cutting  and  to  a  depth  about  equal  to  the  diameter. 
Thus  when  the  two  cuttings  were  placed  together  the  sharp  end 
of  one  corresponded  exactly  to  the  thick  end  of  the  other,  so 
that  no  portion  of  the  cut  surface  was  exposed,  and  the  maxi- 


Fig.  I.    English  Cleft  Graft. 


A.  Proper  angle  of  cut  for  large  cuttings. 

B.  Proper  angle  of  cut  for  small  cuttings. 


C,  D.    Proper  size  and  angle  of  tongues. 
E,  F.    Method  of  uniting  and  tying  graft. 


mum  contact  was  obtained.  The  object  of  the  grafter  in  mak- 
ing his  cuts  is  to  make  them  as  straight  as  possible,  but  it  will 
be  found  that  a  cut  made  by  the  most  skillful  hand  is  slightly 
concave.  This  is,  however,  no  objection,  as  this  extremely 
slight  concavity  is  useful  in  allowing  for  the  slight  swelling  in 
the  middle  due  to  the  insertion  of  the  tongues.  This  is  proba- 
bly one  of  the  reasons  why  hand  grafting  is  generally  more 
successful  than  grafting  with  a  machine,  as  a  machine  makes  a 
cut  which  is  absolutely  straight  and  the  ends  have  thus  a  tend- 
ency to  be  drawn  away  from  the  cut  surface  of  the  other  cutting. 


—  13  — 

The  cut  for  the  tongue  is  not  made  quite  parallel  to  the  grain 
of  the  wood  in  order  to  minimize  the  danger  of  splitting. 

Champin  Graft. — Perhaps  the  commonest  method  of  grafting 
used  in  California  for  small  vines  or  cuttings  is  a  modification 
of  the  Champin  method.  The  Champin  graft  is  made  as 
shown  in   Fig.  II  below.     The  modified  method  is  a  compro- 


/? 


Fig.  II.    End-to-End  and  Champin  Grafts. 

1,  2.  Method  of  making  the  End-to-End  graft. 
3,  4.  Cross-section  through  the  union  of  ihe  above  graft,  showing 
how  completely  the  stock  unites  with    the  scion  on  all 
sides. 
5.  Union  of  End-to-End  graft. 
9-12.  Method  of  making  Champin  graft. 

mise  between  the  true  Champin  graft  and  the  English  tongue 
graft.  It  is  made  in  a  way  similar  to  that  described  for  the 
latter,  but  the  tongne  is  made  much  deeper  and  the  end  of  the 
point  (see  Fig.  II,  No.  12)  projecting  over  the  cut  of  the  opposite 
cutting  is  cut  off. 

The  Champin  graft  is  based  on  the  theoretical  principle  that 


—  14  — 

the  greater  the  surface  of  contact  between  the  two  cuttings  the 
greater  the  chances  of  union.  Thus  in  the  English  graft  the 
amount  of  possible  contact  is  theoretically  only  about  half  that 
of  the  Champin.  The  latter  is  apparently  twice  as  great  as  the 
former.  In  practice,  however,  it  is  found  that  the  contact  in 
the  English  graft  can  be  made  so  much  more  perfect  than  in 
the  Champin  graft  that  the  actual  contact  is  usually  greater  in 
the  former  than  in  the  latter.  Moreover,  the  strip  of  bark  on 
the  long  tongue  of  the  Champin  graft  is  more  likely  to  become 
detached  or  injured  than  the  well-supported  bark  on  the  English 
graft;  and  finally,  the  exposed  cut  at  the  end  of  the  scion  is  almost 
sure  to  emit  strong  roots,  while  that  on  the  stock  prevents  the 
complete  and  thorough  union  which  is  possible  with  the  English 
graft.  The  tongue,  therefore,  should  be  reduced  to  the  mini- 
mum, that  is  to  say  should  be  as  short  as  possible,  while  giving 
solidity  to  the  graft  until  union  takes  place.  For  purposes  of 
comparison,  parallel  experiments  were  made  with  both  methods. 
Another  method,  new  and  not  thoroughly  tested  as  yet,  was 
tried  with  a  few  Rupestris  St.  George  cuttings,  Mondeuse 
being  used  for  scions.  This  method  originated  in  France,  and 
is  called  "End-to-End"  grafting.  Its  nature  is  shown  in  Fig. 
II.  The  ends  of  stock  are  cut  at  an  angle  of  about  70°  and 
are  held  together  by  a  piece  of  galvanized  iron  wire  which  is 
pushed  into  the  pith  of  each  piece.  The  number  of  successful 
grafts  was  low,  but  those  which  did  unite  made  such  excellent 
unions  that  the  method  seems  worthy  of  further  trial.  It  is 
especially  promising  for  machine  grafting. 

Binding  Grafts. — Raffia,  treated  as  explained  on  page  11,  was 
used  for  binding  the  grafts.  The  raffia  seemed  to  have  dete- 
riorated somewhat  during  the  twelve  months  it  had  been 
allowed  to  hang  in  an  open  shed.  It  was  weaker  than  usual 
and  some  of  it  rather  brittle.  It  was  cut  into  lengths  of  about 
12  inches. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  grafts  would  do  better  without 
any  binding  but  for  two  reasons:  first,  because  it  is  difficult  to 
handle  unbound  grafts  without  disturbing  the  union;  and, 
second,  because  the  callus  does  not  form  simultaneously  on  all 
parts  of  the  union  and  the  first  formed  tends  to  push  apart  the 
stock  and  scion,  thus  making  it  difficult  or  impossible  for  all 
parts  to  unite.     The  object,  then,  in  binding  is  to  use  as  little 


—  15  — 

raffia  as  is  compatible  with  the  thorough  firmness  of  the  union. 
The  free  ends  of  both  scion  and  stock  should  be  made  firm  with 
about  two  turns  of  the  raffia,  and  the  rest  with  wide  spiral 
turns  which  leave  as  much  of  the  union  in  direct  contact  with 
the  sand  as  possible.  The  sand,  while  keeping  the  union  suf- 
ficiently moist,  does  not  completely  exclude  the  air,  which  is 
necessary  to  the  formation  of  healing  tissue.  A  somewhat 
closer  tying  than  this  was  adopted  in  these  experiments,  on 
account  of  the  weakness  of  the  raffia  used. 

The  grafts  were  tied  in  bundles  of  ten  and  then  treated  in 
various  ways  to  aid  their  uniting. 

Methods  of  Aiding  Callusing. — The  main  reason  for 
callusing  the  grafts  before  they  are  put  in  the  nursery  is  that 
we  can  have  more  perfect  control  of  the  conditions  which  favor 
the  formation  of  callus.  Those  conditions  are  an  even  and 
not  too  low  temperature  and  a  moisture  content  of  the  soil  in 
which  the  grafts  are  callused,  not  exceeding  ten  per  cent  and 
not  falling  below  five  per  cent. 

Two  methods  of  obtaining  those  conditions  were  tried: 

1.  Callusing  in  Sand. — The  sand  used  was  taken  from  Napa. 
Creek  and  was  very  suitable  for  the  purpose.  The  grafts  were 
put  in  the  sand  nearly  vertically  in  bundles  of  ten,  in  rows.. 
The  sand  was  moistened  sufficiently  to  give  it  the  compactness 
necessary  for  making  the  piles.  The  location  of  the  sand  pile 
was  chosen  on  the  south  side  of  a  building,  which  protected 
the  sand  from  the  north  winds  and  rendered  it  possible  to  give 
the  grafts  the  maximum  amount  of  sun.  A  layer  of  about 
four  inches  of  sand  was  put  on  the  bottom  and  then  the  grafts 
were  put  in  vertically  and  covered  up  as  soon  as  they  came 
from  the  grafting  bench.  The  tops  of  the  grafts  were  covered 
with  a  thin  layer  of  sand  (about  two  inches).  The  whole  pile 
of  sand  with  the  grafts  was  then  covered  with  a  waterproof 
cloth,  in  order  to  protect  the  grafts  from  excessive  moisture 
and  to  maintain  the  even  temperature  of  the  sand  during  coJd 
weather  and  at  night.  This  cover  was  easily  removable  in 
order  to  facilitate  watering  if  necessary,  and  to  make  it  possi- 
ble to  warm  the  pile  on  sunny  days.  This  arrangement, 
somewhat  improved,  is  shown  in  Fig.  III. 

The  grafts  were  put  in  the  sand  from  March  7th  to  March < 
18th,  the  time  of  grafting. 


—  16  — 

2.  Callusing  in  Straw  or  Moss. — To  test  this  method,  360 
grafts  were  placed  in  straw,  moss  not  being  obtainable  at  the 
time.  Moss  is  considered  somewhat  better,  on  account  of  its 
superior  hygroscopic  power.  The  method  of  layering  the  grafts 
in  straw  was  as  follows :  A  large  box  without  cover  was  laid 
on  its  side;  a  layer  of  about  two  inches  of  chopped  straw  was 
placed  on  the  lower  side  and  then  a  single  layer  of  grafts. 
This  was  repeated  until  the  box  was  full.  The  grafts  were  so 
placed  that  the  scion  was  nearest  the  bottom  of  the  box,  which 
was  then  turned  upright  and  still  more  straw  pushed  in 
between  the  layers  of  grafts  until  they  were  tightly  packed. 
The  box  was  then  placed  in  the  sand  pile,  two  inches  of  straw 


Fig.  III.    Callusing  Bed. 

placed  on  top,  and  the  whole  covered  with  sand,  one  inch  of 
sand  being  placed  over  the  top  layer  of  straw.  The  straw  was 
moistened  before  being  used  for  layering  the  grafts. 

All  the  grafts  were  left  for  from  six  to  eight  weeks  to  callus, 
and  then  planted  out  in  the  nursery  during  the  first  week  in 
May. 

Planting  Grafts  in  the  Nursery. 

Planting  Immediately  After  Grafting: — There  is  no  doubt 
about  the  disadvantage  of  planting  freshly  grafted  vine-cuttings 
out.  in  the  open  nursery,  as  we  have  there  no  practical  means 
of  sufficiently  controlling  temperature  and  moisture.  But  in 
order  to  have  definite  data  in  regard  to  this  method  in  com- 


-17  — 

parison  with  a  preliminary  callusing  with  more  or  less  perfect 
control  of  temperature  and  moisture,  the  following  experiment 
was  tried:  Three  hundred  and  sixty  grafted  cuttings  were 
planted  out  in  the  nursery  directly  after  they  were  grafted. 
The  soil  of  the  nursery  was  in  good  condition.  In  planting,  a 
trench  was  dug  about  18  inches  deep  and  15  inches  wide.  The 
bottom  of  the  trench  was  then  filled  in  for  a  few  inches  with  well- 
pulverized  top  soil,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  penetration  of  the 
roots.  The  grafts  were  placed  4  inches  apart  nearly  vertically, 
in  two  rows  (one  on  each  side  of  the  trench),  sand  being  pre- 
viously placed  on  each  side  in  order  that  the  bases  of  the  stock 
should  be  in  favorable  condition  for  root  formation  and  growth. 
The  trench  was  then  completely  filled  by  putting  in  soil  and 
sand  alternately  in  such  a  manner  as  to  surround  the  grafts 
completely  with  sand.  The  point  of  union  of  scion  and  stock 
was  placed  at  a  level  with  the  surface  of  the  soil  and  was  also 
carefully  surrounded  with  sand.     Sand  was  then  heaped  com- 


Fig.  IV.    Method  of  Planting  in  Nursery. 

pletely  over  the  scions  and  the  rest  filled  in  with  soil,  thus 
making  a  bank  which  covered  the  grafts  to  a  depth  of  about 
two  inches;  as  shown  in  Fig.  IV. 

The  reason  for  completely  covering  with  sand  was  to  prevent 
the  scions  from  being  dried  out  by  the  wind. 

Planting  the  Grafts  After  Previous  Callusing. — The  grafts 
were  planted  in  the  nursery  after  they  had  been  from  six  to 
eight  weeks  in  the  callusing  bed. 

When  the  grafts  were  taken  out  of  the  callusing  pile  it  was 
noticed  that  the  unions  of  those  which  had  been  buried  on  the 
south  side  were  much  more  complete  than  those  buried  on  the 
north  side,  showing  the  effect  of  heat  in  promoting  the  forma- 
tion of  healing  tissue.  In  the  warmer  parts  of  the  pile  the 
2v 


—  18  — 

buds  of  the  scions  had  started — a  disadvantage  which  was, 
however,  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  good  callusing,  as 
was  proved  by  their  subsequent  better  growth.  The  only  other 
difference  noted  was  that  the  Riparia  stock  had  developed  more 
rootlets  than  the  Rupestris  at  this  time. 

The  grafts  were  planted  out  in  the  nursery  in  trenches  about 
18  inches  deep  and  14  to  15  inches  wide,  as  already  described. 
The  grafts  were  planted  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  described 
on  page  17,  with  a  few  modifications  which  were  found  to  be 
necessary.  The  grafts  first  planted  were  put  in  the  soil  so  as 
to  bring  the  unions  just  level  with  the  soil  surface.  But  the 
loose  soil  soon  settled  about  two  inches  so  that  the  unions 
became  actually  deeper.  The  grafts  planted  later  were  placed 
with  the  unions  about  two  inches  above  the  surface  to  offset 
this  settling.  Moreover,  some  further  precautionary  measures 
had  to  be  taken  to  prevent  the  soil  from  drying-out  too  much 
near  the  grafts.  It  was  found  best  to  make  the  bank  of  piled- 
up  earth  wider  by  putting  more  soil  at  the  sides  so  as  to  pre- 
serve the  moisture  of  the  soil. 

The  soil  was  moist  enough  when  the  grafts  were  planted,  but 
the  sand  had  to  be  moistened  before  putting  into  the  trenches. 
A  thorough  plowing  and  harrowing  were  given  the  hard  soil 
between  the  rows  in  order  to  prevent  excessive  evaporation. 

The  nursery  received  but  little  care  after  the  grafts  had  been 
planted.  The  soil  received  the  same  cultivation  as  that  of  the 
neighboring  vineyard,  was  weeded  once,  and  the  grafts  were 
irrigated  in  July. 

Removal  of  Scion-Roots  and  Suckers  from  the  Stock. — About 
the  middle  of  July  the  earth  was  carefully  removed  by  means 
of  a  shovel  and  then  the  sand  was  taken  away  from  the  unions, 
partly  by  means  of  a  trowel,  partly  with  the  hands,  as  circum- 
stances required.  The  smallest  rootlets  were  still  soft  and 
could  be  rubbed  off  by  the  hand;  the  older  and  firmer  roots 
had  to  be  cut  with  a  sharp  knife.  Great  care  was  taken 
not  to  disturb  the  unions  of  the  grafts,  as  they  were  still  very 
brittle. 

Few  suckers  were  found,  as  the  eyes  of  the  stock  had  been 
carefully  cut  out  before  grafting.  In  cases  where  the  suckers 
came  from  the  deepest  eye  it  was  found  necessary  to  dig  down 
to  the  base  of  the  whole  graft  in  order  to  cut  the  shoot  at  its 


—  19  — 

base  as  well  as  to  properly  remove  the  dormant  eyes.  The 
removal  of  roots  was  done  without  injury  to  the  grafts,  as  they 
were  covered  up  before  they  had  a  chance  to  dry  out  and  the 
soil  was  irrigated  immediately  after;  so  that  the  grafts  looked 
as  fresh  as  ever  the  next  morning. 

The  soil  was  found  dry  to  a  depth  of  from  5  to  6  inches,  but 
the  soil  below  this  had  preserved  sufficient  moisture  to  keep  the 
unions  of  the  grafts  from  drying,  as  they  were  all  in  the  moist 
region.  The  sand  on  the  surface  became  very  much  heated  in 
the  middle  of  the  day,  which  may  account  for  the  many  tender 
young  shoots  and  leaves  which  were  found  dry  and  withered. 
The  second  eye  at  the  base  of  the  scion  had  in  most  of  these 
cases  developed  new  shoots,  so  that  the  injury  done  was  only 
in  retarding  the  vegetation  of  the  burnt  plants. 

A  thorough  irrigation  was  found  necessary  at  this  time  in 
order  to  prevent  injury  from  the  drought  and  heat  of  summer. 
The  water  was  run  in  little  ditches  about  one  foot  from  the 
grafts  and  so  applied  that  the  soil  around  the  unions  was  never 
thoroughly  water-soaked,  which  experience  has  shown  to  be 
deleterious  to  the  graft.  The  soil  was  cultivated  as  soon  as 
dry  enough  after  irrigation.  The  raffia  in  many  cases  was 
rotten  already. 

Condition  When  Scions  and  Suckers  Were  Cut. — The  following 
observations  were  made  during  July  14th  to  18th,  when  the 
roots  of  the  scions  and  the  suckers  were  cut: 

English  grafts  with  scions  of  two  eyes;  180  Zinfandel  on 
Rupestris  St.  George.  Almost  all  the  grafts  had  started  to 
grow;  about  50%  of  the  grafts  showed  roots  on  the  scions;  162 
grafts  had  started,  that  is  90%. 

English  grafts  with  scions  of  one  eye;  180  Zinfandel  on 
Rupestris  'St.  George.  A  lower  percentage  than  of  the  above 
had  developed  shoots  (78%);  but  the  roots  on  the  scions  were 
less  developed  and  fewer  in  number. 

Champin  grafts  with  scions  of  two  eyes:  180  Zinfandel  on 
Rupestris  St.  George.  The  scions  had  well-developed  shoots, 
but  also  a  good  many  strong  roots  on  the  bases  of  the  scions. 
Of  the  180  grafts,  165  were  growing,  that  is  about  92%. 

Champin  grafts  with  scions  of  one  eye;  180  Zinfandel  on 
Rupestris  St.  George.  This  lot  was  better  developed  than 
that  with  two  eyes  left  on  the  scions;  less  strong  roots  were 


—  20  — 

found  on  the  scions,  but  only  150  were  growing,  that  is  about 
83%. 

Champin  grafts  with  scions  of  one  eye;  180  Zinfandel  on 
Rupestris  St.  George;  planted  out  immediately  after  grafting. 
The  unions  of  the  grafts  that  were  growing  seemed  to  have 
joined  very  well;  the  soil  near  to  the  scions  was  dry,  so  that 
but  few  roots  had  developed;  the  75  grafts  growing  made  but 
a  low  percentage  of  the  whole,  about  42%. 

Champin  grafts  with  scions  of  two  eyes;  180  Zinfandel  on 
Rupestris  St.  George;  planted  out  immediately  after  grafting. 
The  grafts  were  in  about  the  same  condition,  but  showed  a 
higher  percentage  of  growing  grafts;  of  the  180  grafts,  98  were 
growing,  that  is  about  54%. 

Champin  grafts  with  scions  of  one  eye;  180  Zinfandel  on 
Rupestris  St.  George;  grafts  callused  in  the  straw.  The  scions 
showed  small  and  few  roots,-  and  the  number  of  growing  grafts 
was  154,  that  is  about  85%. 

Champin  grafts  with  scions  of  two  eyes;  180  Zinfandel  on 
Rupestris  St.  George;  grafts  callused  in  the  straw.  The  grafts 
of  this  and  the  foregoing  experiment  (callusing  in  straw) 
looked  the  best  of  all  the  grafts  made,  and  had  very  well-devel- 
oped shoots,  with  an  average  length  of  10  inches;  the  proportion 
of  growing  grafts  was  90%. 

America  grafted  with  Zinfandel;  English  graft  with  scions 
of  two  eyes  on  one-year-old  rooted  stock.  The  grafts  showed 
good  growth;  six  grafts  of  the  ten  had  started,  that  is  60%. 

Munson  grafted  with  Zinfandel;  one-year-old  rooted  stock, 
scions  of  two  eyes,  English  graft.  The  grafts  showed  good 
growth;  a  few  only  showed  small  rootlets  on  the  scions;, 
eleven,  or  85%,  were  growing. 

Champini  grafted  with  Zinfandel;  one-year-old  rooted  stock, 
scions  of  two  eyes,  English  graft.  The  scions  did  not  take  in 
most  cases,  the  proportion  being  about  30%. 

Elvicand  grafted  with  Zinfandel;  one-year-old  rooted  stock, 
scions  of  two  eyes,  English  graft.  The  grafts  showed  very 
poor  growth,  and  only  about  29%  growing  at  all. 

Mondeuse  on  Rupestris  St.  George;  Champin  graft,  scions  of 
twro  eyes.  The  shoots  were  found  to  be  short,  about  5  or  6 
inches  long.  Only  a  few  rootlets  were  found  on  the  scions,  and 
many  of  them  were  already  dead.     The  proportion  of  growing 


-  21  — 

grafts  was  about  63%.  Altogether  the  Mondeuse  were  growing 
less  vigorously  on  Rupestris  St.  George  than  the  Zinfandel. 

Lenoir  grafted  with  Zinfandel;  English  graft,  scions  of  two 
eyes.  Many  of  the  grafts  did  not  grow,  they  were  found  dry 
and  dead;  the  few  growing  were  backward  in  development;  the 
nourishment  came  apparently  from  the  reserve  food  in  the 
cuttings,  as  there  were  few  or  no  roots  on  the  stock.  Only 
28%  were  growing. 

American  Rul'ander  grafted  with  Zinfandel;  English  graft, 
scions  of  two  eyes.  Neither  scions  nor  stock  had  developed 
roots;  a  few  were  growing  somewhat  by  means  of  reserve  food; 
in  all  19%. 

Herbemont  grafted  with  Zinfandel;  English  graft,  scions  of 
two  eyes.  A  few  started  to  grow  (about  24%),  but  no  roots 
were  found  on  the  scions  or  the  stock. 

Cunningham  grafted  with  Zinfandel;  English  graft,  scions 
of  two  eyes.  No  roots  had  formed  on  the  scions.  The  growth 
was  small,  and  only  26%  showed  any. 

Riparia  Gloire  de  Montpellier  grafted  with  Zinfandel;  Cham- 
pin  graft,  scions  with  two  eyes.  The  green  shoots  were  5  to  6 
inches  long,  some  even  smaller  (that  is,  shorter)  than  those  on 
Rupestris  St.  George.  But  few  rootlets  were  found  on  the 
scions.     The  proportion  of  growing  grafts  was  58%. 

Tokay  on  Rupestris  St.  George;  Champin  graft,  scions  of 
two  eyes.  The  grafts  were  very  well  developed,  showing 
abundant  foliage.  Not  many  roots  were  found  on  the  scions, 
and  87%  were  growing. 

Ferrara  on  Rupestris  St.  George;  Champin  graft,  scions  of 
two  eyes.  The  grafts  showed  very  good  growth;  but  many 
roots  were  found  on  the  scions  and  most  of  them  were  already 
well  developed.  The  proportion  growing  was  96%,  which  is 
higher  than  in  any  of  the  other  experiments. 

Condition  When  Raffia  Was  Cut. — The  following  observations 
were  made  from  the  28th  to  the  30th  of  August,  when  the  raffia 
was  cut: 

In  the  case  of  many  of  the  grafts  the  raffia  should  have  been 
cut  earlier  (two  to  three  weeks),  the  raffia  having  prevented 
the  proper  development  of  the  covered  unions.  In  all  those 
cases  where  the  raffia  had  prevented  the  proper  enlargement  of 
the  union,  though  the  parts  below  and  above  the  raffia  showed 


—  22  — 

good  development,  the  scions  had  developed  strong  roots. 
These  roots  favored  in  some  cases  an  unusually  heavy  growth 
of  the  green  parts,  often  as  much  as  two  to  three  feet.  In 
these  extreme  cases  when  the  raffia  wTas  cut  and  the  roots  of 
the  scions  removed,  the  thin,  undeveloped  union  was  unable  to 
support  the  heavy  top  and  broke  off  at  a  touch  of  the  spade  or 
a  puff  of  wind.  In  the  first  row  worked  there  was  a  loss  of 
about  3%  from  this  cause.  It  was  found  before  the  other  rows 
were  touched,  however,  that  this  loss  could  be  avoided  by  a 
heavy  pruning-back  of  the  green  shoots.  This  not  only  les- 
sened the  weight  of  the  top,  thus  preventing  breaking,  but 
diminished  the  evaporating  surface  of  leaves,  which  was  too 
great  for  the  roots  of  the  stock  after  those  of  the  scion  had 
been  removed. 

The  raffia  on  many  grafts  (about  20%)  was  quite  rotten,  and 
cutting  was  not  needed;  very  good  unions  could  be  observed  in 
all  these  cases.  In  other  cases  the  raffia  did  not  show  any 
sign  of  decaying  and  was  strong  enough  to  prevent  the  devel- 
opment of  good  unions,  and  was  therefore  cut.  The  raffia  of 
the  grafts  which  were  planted  out  immediately  after  grafting 
was,  contrary  to  all  expectations,  still  strong,  apparently  be- 
cause nearer  to  the  surface  and  therefore  drier.  Undoubtedly 
the  raffia  should  have  been  cut  at  least  one  month  earlier  on 
these. 

Condition  When  Grafts  Were  Removed  from  Nursery. — The 
following  observations  were  made  from  the  26th  to  the  30th  of 
December,  when  the  grafts  were  taken  out  of  the  nursery: 

English  grafts  with  scions  of  two  eyes;  180  Zinfandel  on 
Rupestris  St.  George.  Most  of  the  unions  were  very  well 
joined.  The  average  length  of  the  shoots  was  from  1  to  2-$ 
feet;  the  wood  was  mature.  The  roots  were  well  developed 
and  grew  mostly  straight  down  to  a  depth  of  3  feet,  the  fine 
rootlets  even  deeper,  4  or  5  feet;  83  grafts  had  made  good 
unions,  that  is  46%;  11  grafts  showed  imperfect  unions. 

English  grafts  with  scions  of  one  eye;  180  Zinfandel  on 
Rupestris  St.  George.  The  difference  in  the  development  of 
the  grafts  with  two  eyes  and  with  one  on  the  scion  was  very 
slightly  in  favor  of  the  first,  and  the  shoots  as  well  as  the  roots 
of  the  successful  grafts  looked  nearly  alike;  51  grafts  had 
developed  fine  unions,  that  is  28%;  12  grafts  made  imperfect 


—  23  — 

unions.  This  experiment  shows  clearly  the  advantage  of 
using  scions  of  two  eyes  for  grafting,  as  20%  of  grafts  were  lost 
by  using  scions  with  only  one  eye. 

Champin  grafts  with  scions  of  two  eyes;  180  Zinfandel  on 
Rupestris  St.  George.  The  unions  with  this  method  of  graft- 
ing did  not  develop  so  well  as  those  of  the  English  graft,  and 
though  the  number  of  passable  unions  was  116,  they  were  not 
of  so  perfect  a  character  as  those  of  the  first  experiment,  and 
the  number  of  imperfect  unions  was  greater;  the  growth  of  the 
shoots  was  short  when  compared  with  the  parallel  experiment 
with  English  grafting.  The  root-system  of  the  stock  was  well 
developed,  the  main  roots  always  going  down,  with  the  smaller 
rootlets  mostly  horizontal.  The  main  roots  had  an  average 
length  of  3  to  4  feet,  the  shoots  a  length  of  about  2  feet. 
There  wras  64%  of  good  unions. 

Champin  grafts  with  scions  of  one  eye;  180  Zinfandel  on 
Rupestris  St.  George.  The  unions  in  this  experiment  were 
somewhat  inferior  to  those  of  the  last.  A  good  many  roots  had 
formed;  all  were  of  smaller  diameter  than  those  mentioned 
above,  but,  like  them,  going  straight  down  with  an  average 
length  of  3  feet.  The  roots  were,  as  a  whole,  less  developed 
than  those  of  the  foregoing  experiment.  The  quality  of  the 
unions  in  this  case  was  decidedly  inferior  to  the  parallel 
experiment  with  English  grafts;  58%  of  the  grafts  made  suf- 
ficiently good  unions. 

Champin  grafts  with  scions  of  two  eyes  and  one  eye,  as  in 
the  last  two  experiments,  but  planted  out  immediately  after 
grafting  without  previous  callusing  in  sand;  360  Zinfandel  on 
Rupestris  St.  George.  The  unions  of  the  grafts  in  this  experi- 
ment were  of  medium  quality,  and  an  especially  high  amount 
of  second-class  grafts  were  noticed  in  the  lot  of  180  grafts  with 
two  eyes.  The  grafts  with  scions  of  one  eye  did,  in  this  experi- 
ment, comparatively  better  than  in  other  parallel  experiments, 
as  there  was  less  difference  in  the  percentage  of  unions;  28% 
of  the  grafts  with  two  eyes  left  on  the  scions  had  made  good 
unions,  and  24%  of  the  grafts  with  one  eye,  while  in  the  first 
case  there  were  found  17%  of  grafts  with  imperfect  unions  and 
in  the  other  only  9%. 

Champin  grafts  with  scions  of  two  eyes  and  one  eye,  as  in 
last  two  experiments,  but  callused  in  straw;  360  Zinfandel  on 
Rupestris  St.  George.     The  unions  of  the  grafts  in  this  experi- 


—  24  — 

merit  were  in  every  respect  inferior  to  those  of  the  grafts  cal- 
lused  in  sand,  though  the  shoots  were  well  developed  (average 
length,  2  feet)  and  the  roots  proportionately.  There  was  very 
little  difference  in  the  general  appearance  of  the  grafts  with 
two-eye  scions  and  of  those  with  one-eye  scions.  The  per- 
centage of  grown  and  well-developed  grafts  of  the  two  kinds 
was  also  close  together:  88  grafts  grew  of  the  first  kind  with 
two  eyes,  that  is  at  the  rate  of  49%;  and  76  grew  of  the  second 
kind,  that  is  43%.  The  second  class  grafts  with  imperfect 
unions  grew  at  the  rate  of  17%  and  8%  respectively. 

America  grafted  with  Zinfandel;  10  one-year-old  roots,  scions 
of  two  eyes,  English  graft.  Only  three  grafts  had  started,  and 
showed  imperfect  unions  and  poorly  developed  shoots. 

Munson  grafted  with  Zinfandel;  13  one-year-old  roots,  scions 
of  two  eyes,  English  graft;  9  of  the  13  grafts  grew,  that  is  69%. 
The  unions  were  mostly  good  and  strong.  The  grafts  showed 
a  strong  root-system,  but  the  shoots  did  not  show  a  propor- 
tionate growth. 

Champini  grafted  with  Zinfandel;  10  one-year-old  roots, 
scions  of  two  eyes,  English  graft.  Only  a  few  showed  growth, 
and  the  unions  were  very  imperfect. 

Elvicand  grafted  with  Zinfandel;  7  one-year-old  roots,  scions 
of  two  eyes,  English  graft.    None  had  made  a  good  union. 

Mondeuse  on  Rupestris  St.  George;  910  Champin  grafts 
scions  of  two  eyes.  The  unions  of  this  kind  formed  better 
than  those  of  Zinfandel  on  Rupestris  St.  George;  most  of 
them  were  well  formed  and  strong.  The  shoots  were  well 
developed  and  the  roots  more  numerous  than  those  of  the 
grafts  of  Zinfandel  on  Rupestris  St.  George  with  the  same 
kind  of  treatment.  The  water-level  at  the  time  of  digging  was 
at  a  depth  of  3  feet,  so  that  the  roots  could  only  be  followed  to 
a  depth  of  about  4  feet,  but  they  undoubtedly  went  deeper.  It 
was  also  observed  here  that  the  roots  of  the  Rupestris  St. 
George  penetrated  the  soil  vertically  through  alternating 
layers  of  compact  soil  and  layers  of  coarse  but  fertile  sandy  soil 
without  the  slightest  deviation,  and  sent  out  an  equal  growth 
of  secondary  rootlets  into  all  layers,  except  that  most  of  the 
finer  rootlets  and  roothairs  were  formed  on  the  lower  parts  of 
the  main-roots,  three  and  mpre  feet  deep;  452  grafts  made 
first-class  unions,  that  is  a  total  of  54%.  Moreover,  about  10% 
made  unions  that  were  more  or  less  imperfect. 


—  25  — 

Lenoir  grafted  with  Zinfandel;  96  English  grafts,  scions  of 
two  eyes.  Most  of  'the  grafts  had  formed  no  roots  and  only 
three  had  started  growth,  one  of  which  was  a  strong,  good 
graft  with  long,  thick  roots. 

American  Rulander  grafted  with  Zinfandel;  26  English 
grafts,  scions  of  two  eyes.     The  grafts  were  all  dead. 

Herbemont  grafted  with  Zinfandel;  21  English  grafts,  scions 
of  two  eyes.     The  grafts  wTere  all  dead. 

Cunningham  grafted  with  Zinfande];  27  English  grafts, 
scions  of  two  eyes.  Two  grafts  showed  good  unions.  They 
had  a  well-developed  root-system  with  thick  roots,  which  grew 
horizontally  at  first  and  then  straight  down.  Only  7%  grew 
in  all. 

Riparia  Gloire  de  Montpellier  grafted  with  Zinfandel;  100 
Champin  grafts,  scions  of  two  eyes.  The  unions  were  not  of 
very  good  quality.  The  shoots  were  short  and  thin  and 
altogether  of  scanty  growth.  The  roots  were  mostly  thin 
and  branching,  but  often  very  long;  most  of  the  main  roots 
did  not  penetrate  the  soil,  but  grew  more  or  less  horizontally 
and  scarcely  deeper  than  1^  feet  below  the  surface.  It  was 
noticeable  that  the  roots  of  the  Riparia  Gloire  de  Montpellier 
followed  the  softer  layers  and  streaks  in  the  soil  and  lacked 
the  penetrating  power  of  the  Rupestris  St.  George.  Only  15% 
of  the  grafts  had  made  good  unions,  and  12%  of  them  showed 
imperfect  unions. 

Tokay  on  Rupestris  St.  George;  100  Champin  grafts,  scions 
of  two  eyes.  The  unions  were  nearly  all  good  and  strong. 
The  average  length  of  the  shoots  was  3  feet.  The  grafts  showed 
a  finely  developed  root-system  with  strong  penetrating  roots, 
which  went  directly  down  into  the  subsoil.  The  percentage 
of  well-developed  grafts  was  60,  which  is  better  than  the  Zin- 
fandel and  Mondeuse  with  the  same  kind  of  treatment.  There 
were  found  only  6%  of  imperfect  grafts. 

Ferrara  on  Rupestris  St.  George;  100  Champin  grafts,  scions 
of  two  eyes.  The  unions  of  this  lot  were  nearly  always  found 
to  be  well  formed,  and  they  were  really  the  best^unions  in  the 
whole  plot.  All  the  shoots  were  more  than  2  feet  long,  many 
3  feet,  and  a  few  even  4  feet.  The  root-system  showed  the 
same  fine  development  and  was  fully  proportionate  to  the  upper 
development  of  the  grafts;  75%  of  the  grafts  made  perfect 
unions,  and  9%  made  imperfect  unions. 


—  26  — 

Tabular  Review  of  Grafting  Experiments. 

Proportion  of  Unions. 

Nature  of  Experiment.  1st  2d                    Remarks. 

Class.  Class. 

Champin  grafts.... 44%  11% 

English  cleft  grafts.. 37  6       Unions  very  complete. 

Scions  with  two  eyes 46  13 

Scions  with  one  eye 38  7 

Grafts  callused  in  sand 61  7 

Grafts  callused  in  straw 46  12       Unions  weak. 

Grafts  not  callused 26  13       Growth  rather  short. 

Zinfandel  on  Rupestris  St.  George 64  11       Good  growth. 

Mondeuse  on  Rupestris  St.  George 54  10       Good  growth. 

Ferrara  on  Rupestris  St.  George 75  9       Very  strong  growth. 

Tokay  on  Rupestris  St,  George 60  6       Strong  growth. 

Rupestris  St. George  as  stock _.  64  11 

Riparia  Gloire  de  Montpellier  as  stock  15  12       Small  growth. 

Herbemont   0  0 

Lenoir  . 1  2 

Cunningham.. 7  4 

American  Rulander 0  0 

Munson,  rooted  vines 69  0       Good  growth. 

America,  rooted  vines 0  30 

Champini,  rooted  vines 0  0 

Elvicand.  rooted  vines 0  0 

The  figures  in  the  above  table  must  not  be  taken  as  repre- 
senting the  exact  relative  values  of  the  various  methods  and 
varieties  compared,  but  taken  in  connection  with  the  following 
remarks  they  may  be  considered  as  valuable  indications: 

A  word  of  explanation  is  perhaps  necessary  with  regard  to 
certain  figures.  The  44%  of  successful  grafts  given  as  the  aver- 
age for  Champin  grafts  and  the  37%  for  the  English  cleft  grafts 
are  somewhat  low,  on  account  of  the  fact  that  they  include 
various  experiments,  some  of  which  were  comparative  failures 
and  made  only  for  the  sake  of  comparison  and  not  to  attain  the 
maximum  number  of  good  grafts. 

The  proportion  of  successful  Champin  grafts,  as  shown  by 
the  table,  is  slightly  greater  than  that  of  the  English  cleft. 
The  successful  English  cleft  grafts,  however,  were  considerably 
superior  to  the  other  in  the  matter  of  completeness  and  strength 
of  the  union.  The  lower  percentage  is  probably  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  English  cleft  grafts  were  placed  in  the  northerly  end 
of  the  callusing  sand  heap,  where  the  temperature  was  too  low. 
(See  page  15.) 

The  experiments  with  two-eye  and  one-eye  scions  on  the 
whole  were  in  favor  of  the  use  of  two  eyes.     The  additional 


Fig.  V. 
Vine  on  left:  An  average  graft  of  Zinfandel  on  Rupestris  St.  George. 
Vine  on  right:  An  average  graft  of  Flame  Tokay  on  Rupestris  St.  George. 


—  28  — 

chance  of  success  given  by  two  eyes  when  the  first  eye  is  in- 
jured by  frost  or  other  cause  no  doubt  accounts  for  the  higher 
percentage  of  success  in  this  case.  In  the  case  of  the  grafts 
planted  out  immediately  after  grafting,  the  one-eye  scions  made 
on  the  whole  the  strongest  growth.  This  seems,  however,  to  be 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  upper  eye  of  the  two-eye  scions  started 
and  broke  through  the  sand  early  enough  to  be  killed  by  the 
spring  frosts,  while  the  one-eye  scions,  being  more  deeply  buried, 
were  later  in  emerging  and  escaped  the  frost.  This  gave  the 
latter  an  earlier  start  and  therefore  a  longer  period  of  growth, 
for  there  was  a  check  of  growth  and  an  interval  of  waste  time 
in  the  former  case  between  the  killing  of  the  upper  bud  and  the 
starting  of  the  lower.  The  remedy  here,  therefore,  if  this  expla- 
nation be  true,  is  a  deeper  layer  of  sand  over  the  scions,  and 
not  the  use  of  only  one  eye. 

The  difference  between  previously  callusing  the  gfafts  in  sand 
and  planting  them  directly  in  the  nursery  as  soon  as  made  is 
very  striking.  Those  previously  callused  produced  61%  of  good 
unions,  while  the  others  produced  but  26%.  There  was  also  a 
difference  in  the  growth  of  the  grafts  in  favor  of  those  callused 
in  sand.  The  grafts  callused  in  straw  were  a  disappointment, 
for,  though  when  planted  out  they  seemed  to  have  callused 
more  successfully  than  those  in  sand,  they  produced  only  46% 
of  sufficiently  good  unions,  and  these  were  weaker  than  those 
of  the  grafts  callused  in  sand.  The  cause  of  this  was  probably 
the  growth  of  molds  and  wood-rot  fungi  around  and  in  the 
unions  while  they  were  in  the  straw. 

The  influence  of  scions  of  different  varieties  on  the  growth 
of  the  grafts  is  well  shown  by  the  four  varieties  tested:  The 
Mondeuse,  though  quite  satisfactory,  gave  a  smaller  percentage 
of  successful  grafts  than  any  of  the  others.  They  started  later 
than  the  Zinfandel,  and  though  the  growth  and  root-system 
were  somewhat  stronger,  the  wood  was  not  quite  so  well 
matured.  The  Zinfandel  did  very  well,  giving  64%  of  good 
grafts  and  making  good  growth.  The  black  Ferrara,  however, 
made  almost  phenomenal  growth  and  yielded  75%  of  first-class 
unions.  The  growth  of  the  Tokay  was  almost  equal  to  that  of 
the  Ferrara,  but  the  number  of  successful  grafts  rather  less, 
60%.  Fig.  V  shows  an  average  Zinfandel  graft  upon  Rupestris 
St.  George   in    comparison  with  an  average  Tokay  upon  the 


—  29  — 

same  stock.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  larger  growth 
of  top  is  accompanied  by  a  corresponding  development  of  the 
root-system.  This  dispels  the  doubt  that  our  very  heavy- 
growing  varieties,  especially  table  and  shipping  grapes,  would 
succeed  upon  resistant  vines,  at  least  as  regards  Rupestris  St. 
George. 

The  greater  adaptability  of  Rupestris  St.  George  for  bench- 
grafting  than  of  Riparia  Gloire  de  Montpellier  is  well  shown  in 
these  experiments.  Where  the  Rupestris  St.  George  gave  64% 
of  first-class  grafts  the  Riparia  Gloire  de  Montpellier  gave  only 
15%.  This  is  due,  in  great  measure,  to  the  difference  in  texture 
in  the  wood  of  the  two  species.  The  Rupestris  has  thick,  firm 
wood  with  short  joints  and  small  pith,  while  the  wood  of  the 
Riparia  is  softer,  more  pithy,  and  longer  jointed.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  difference  it  is  much  easier  to  make  a  well- 
fitting,  firm  union  with  the  Rupestris  than  with  the  Riparia. 
It  would  appear  from  this  experiment  that  grafting  in  the 
vineyard  when  the  Riparia  is  two  or  three  years  old  would  be 
the  best  method  for  varieties  of  this  species. 

Of  the  other  stock  tested,  including  Lenoir,  it  is  plain,  with 
the  possible  exception  of  Munson,  that  they  are  unadapted  to 
this  method  of  grafting.  This  is  to  a  great  extent  due  to  the 
difficulty  of  making  roots  with  many  of  these  varieties  and  their 
consequent  failure  to  properly  feed  the  scion.  The  Munson  not 
only  gave  a  high  percentage  of  first-class  grafts,  but  the  unions 
were  particularly  good.  As  this  variety's  resistance  to  phyl- 
loxera has  not  been  thoroughly  tested,  however,  this  success  in 
grafting  must  not  be  construed  as  a  proof  of  its  utility  as  a 
resistant  stock. 

The  effect  of  failing  to  cut  the  raffia  or  other  binding  material 
early  enough  in  the  season  is  well  shown  by  the  middle  graft 
of  Fig.  VI.  The  graft,  as  can  be  seen,  had  made  a  perfect  union, 
but  the  raffia  had  been  imperfectly  removed,  one  or  two  turns 
having  been  left  uncut.  This  is  of  course  an  unusual  case,  as 
when  the  raffia  is  cut  in  one  place  it  is  usually  loosened  com- 
pletely. The  same  thing  occurs,  however,  when  the  raffia  is 
not  cut  at  all,  except  that  the  constricted  part  is  longer,  as  is 
the  case  with  the  two  outer-vines.  The  swelling  of  the  vine 
above  the  constriction  is  due  to  the  difficulty  which  the  food, 
elaborated  by  the  leaves,  finds  in  passing  the  part  where  the 


—  30  — 

bark  is  compressed  by  the  raffia.  The  large  swellings  on  the 
two  outer  vines  below  the  raffia  are  due  to  another  cause. 
They  are  doubtless  indicative  of  disease,  and  resemble  very 
closely  the  black-knot  which  attacks  older  vines,  especially  in 
wet  soils.  The  nature  of  this  disease  is  not  well  understood, 
but  as  it  usually  accompanies  an  excess  of  water  in  the  soil, 
it  was  doubtless  due  in  this  case  to  heavy  rains  in  late  spring 
after  the  grafts  were  planted. 

The  accumulation  of  food  material  above  a  constriction  of 
the  bark  and  the  consequent  starvation  of  the  lower  part  and 


Fig-  VI.    Effect  of  Black-Knot  and  of  Failure  to  Cut  the  Raffia. 


root-system  are  similar  to  what  occurs  when  a  vine  is  girdled. 
Fig.  VII  shows  an  excellent  example  of  this.  The  vine  repre- 
sented is  a  Rupestris  St.  George  in  the  spring  after  the  year  it 
was  planted.  The  first  year  it  made  an  excellent  growth,  as 
evidenced  by  the  roots  on  the  lower  part.  In  the  spring  of  the 
following  year,  however,  the  growth,  though  at  first  vigorous, 
soon  stopped  and  the  leaves  became  yellow.  On  digging  up 
the  vine  it  presented  the  appearance  shown  in  the  figure.  The 
upper  part  of  the  vine  had  grown  to  twice  the  thickness  of  the 
previous  year  down  to  a  point  about  4  or  5  inches  below  the 


—  31  —  <• 

surface.  Below  this  point  there  was  no  growth  at  all,  and 
although  the  roots  were  still  alive  they  were  no  larger  than  the 
year  before.  A  closer  examination 
revealed  the  fact  that  at  the  point 
where  the  change  took  place  the  vine 
had  been  completely  girdled  by  wire- 
worms,  which  had  eaten  off  the  bark 
for  about  half  an  inch. 

It  is  unusual  for  wire-worms  to 
attack  such  plants  as  the  vine,  but  the 
explanation  was  quickly  found.  The 
land  in  which  these  Rupestris  St. 
George  cuttings  were  planted  had 
been  in  grass  and  hay  for  several 
years  before,  and  the  roots  of  grasses 
being  a  favorite  food  of  wire-worms, 
they  had  increased  to  large  numbers. 
In  the  spring  of  the  year  in  which  the 
vines  were  attacked  the  land  was  so 
thoroughly  and  carefully  cultivated 
that  not  a  weed  was  left  for  the  many 
wire-worms  still  left  in  the  ground. 
For  this  reason  they  were  obliged  to 
attack  the  only  living  vegetable  sub- 
stance present.  Vines  injured  as  badly 
as  that  in  the  figure  died,  but  the  rest 
were  saved  by  simply  digging  around 
each  vine  and  destroying  the  wire- 
worms  which  were  congregated  near 
each  vine  at  about  the  same  distance 
from  the  surface. 


The  effect  of  neglecting  to  cut  the  roots 
which  are  sent  out  by  the  scions  is 
shown  in  Fig.  VIII.  In  the  vines 
shown  there,  the  union  was  good  and 
the  top  vigorous,  but  owing  to  the  fact 
that  the  roots  of  the  scion  were 
allowed  to  grow,  the  stock  failed  to 
develop.  The  descending  food,  Avhich 
is  necessary  to  the  growth  of  the  roots, FlG,VIL 


Effect  of  Wire-Worms 
on  Young  Vine. 


Fig.  VIII.    Effect  of  Failing  to  Cut  Off  the  Roots  of  the  Scion. 


—  33  — 

entered  the  roots  of  the  scion  more  easily  than  it  could  traverse 
the  irregular  and  abnormal  tissue  of  the  union.  Thus  there  was 
left  a  vinifera  on  its  own  roots  with  the  resistant  stock  starved 
and  killed. 

Comparative  Experiments  in  Rooting  Cuttings  of  Resistant 

Stocks. 

Rupestris  St.  George. — 580  cuttings  were  planted  out  in  the 
nursery  on  April  18,  1899.  Most  of  those  cuttings  were  the 
thin  tips  which  could  not  be  grafted  on  account  of  their  small 
diameter.  No  attention  beyond  the  plowing  and  cultivation 
given  to  the  vineyard  was  given  them  during  the  growing 
period,  except  that  they  received  one  irrigation  and  one  hoeing 
in  June.  The  roots  were  nine  months  old  when  taken  from  the 
nursery.  The  average  length  of  growth  of  the  shoots  was  2 
feet,  usually  several  were  formed  on  a  single  plant.  The  root- 
system  was  well  developed,  and  from  four  to  six  main  roots 
could  be  counted  in  most  cases  on  one  vine.  All  the  roots  were 
long,  strong,  and  tough,  and  grew  to  a  depth  of  3  to  5  feet; 
480  cuttings  had  made  good  rooted  vines,  that  is  83%  of  the 
cuttings  planted. 

Riparia  Gloire  de  Montpellier. — 40  cuttings  were  planted  and 
received  the  same  care  as  the  cuttings  of  the  Rupestris  St. 
George.  The  vines  showed  scanty  growth  when  taken  out  of 
the  soil.  The  average  length  of  the  shoots  was  from  1  to  2  feet, 
but  only  a  few  developed  on  each  vine.  The  root-system  was 
entirely  different  from  that  of  the  Rupestris  St.  George.  Very 
few  of  the  main  roots  went  down  to  the  moist  regions  of  the 
soil;  most  of  the  main  roots  were  superficial,  growing  about 
one  foot  below  the  surface  and  sending  out  many  small  root- 
lets. The  roots  were  not  strong,  but  rather  brittle,  and  broke 
easily;  32  cuttings  out  of  40  were  well  rooted,  that  is  80%. 

Solonis. — 45  cuttings  were  planted  in  the  spring  and  were 
treated  like  the  preceding.  The  following  observations  were 
made  on  the  vines  when  taken  out  in  winter:  The  shoots  were 
thin  and  of  an  average  length  of  2  feet.  The  roots  were  well 
developed  and  grew  down  to  the  moist  depths,  although  not  so 
straight  as  the  roots  of  the  Rupestris  St.  George.  The  small 
rootlets  and  roothairs  were  only  formed  at  the  end  of  roots, 
3v 


—   34  — 

3  to  4  feet  deep  in  the  soil.  The  main  roots  were  thicker  than 
those  of  Rupestris  St.  George  and  Riparia  Gloire  de  Mont- 
pellier. 

The  difference  in  character  of  the  root-systems  of  Rupestris, 
Riparia,  and  Solonis  is  well  shown  by  Fig.  IX.  These  are 
average  specimens  of  the  vines  rooted  at  the  St.  Helena  plot 
in  1899.  The  tendency  of  the  Riparia  to  send  out  horizontal, 
or  even  slightly  rising  roots,  is  illustrated.  In  extreme  cases 
the  roots  were  found  to  start  toward  the  surface  at  an  angle  of 
about  45°,  and  after  rising  in  this  way  for  several  inches  to 
become  horizontal.  About  two  thirds  of  the  roots  took  this 
horizontal  direction,  and  the  remainder  went  down  at  various 
angles,  some  being  nearly  vertical. 

The  cause  of  the  failure  of  the  Riparia  in  the  upper  part  of 
the  Napa  Valley  is  evidently  to  be  found  here.  The  heat  and 
continued  drought  of  summer  penetrate  to  these  horizontal 
roots,  destroy  the  roothairs,  and  deprive  the  vine  of  water 
exactly  at  the  time  it  is  most  needed.  The  more  deeply  pene- 
trating roots  are  too  weak  and  too  few  to  supply  the  amount  of 
water  needed  by  the  evaporating  leaf  surface.  This  lack  of 
adjustment  of  the  supply  of  water  to  the  demand  is  increased 
when  the  Riparia  is  grafted  with  strong-growing  vinifera 
varieties.  This  is  evidenced  by  the  many  grafted  vines  which 
die  in  their  second  or  third  year. 

The  deeply  penetrating  roots  of  the  Rupestris,  shown  in  the 
figure,  explain  the  resistance  of  this  species  to  drought.  All 
the  roots  in  this  young  vine  penetrated  deeply  into  the  soil  in 
a  direction  more  or  less  approaching  the  vertical.  As  the  vine 
grows  older,  as  we  have  found  by  the  examination  of  three- 
year-old  Rupestris  St.  George  vines,  secondary  roots  are  sent 
out  in  a  direction  more  approaching  the  horizontal.  These 
utilize  the  upper  layers  of  soil,  but  as  they  constitute  but  a 
small  part  of  the  whole  root-system  any  injury  to  them  is  not 
severely  felt  by  the  vine. 

An  injury  to  the  lower  roots,  however,  is  more  injurious  to 
the  Rupestris.  This  explains  the  unsuitableness  of  this  species 
for  badly  drained  soils,  and  for  soils  where  the  water-level  is 
high  for  a  long  time  in  winter  and  spring,  and  especially  for 
those  irrigated  districts  where  the  water-level"  rises  during  the 
growing  period  of  spring  and  summer.     The  standing  water 


—  36  — 

causes  the  roothairs  on  the  main  part  of  the  root-system  to 
decay,  and,  deprived  thus  of  its  only  means  of  obtaining  water, 
the  Rupestris  dies  of  drought  as  truly  as  does  the  Riparia  when 
the  main  part  of  its  rootlets  and  roothairs  are  destroyed  by  the 
heat  and  dryness  of  summer. 

The  strong,  sturdy  growth  of  the  Rupestris  St.  George,  as 
compared  with  the  comparatively  slender  growth  of  what 
seems  to  be  the  best  of  the  Riparias,  is  also  well  shown  by  the 
figures.  This  makes  the  Rupestris  St.  George  particularly 
valuable  as  a  stock  for  our  heavy-growing  varieties  of  vinifera. 
This  heavy  growth  of  the  grafts  on  Rupestris  St.  George  has 
been  found  in  France  to  have  a  tendency  to  make  them  bear 
poorly  and  "go  to  wood."  This,  however,  may  be  considered 
a  "good  fault,"  as  it  is  easily  counteracted  by  more  generous 
pruning,  by  leaving  a  larger  number  of  buds,  and  thus,  by 
diverting  the  whole  vigor  of  the  vine  into  a  larger  number  of 
shoots,  decreasing  the  vigor  of  each  and  increasing  their  fertility. 
Some  grape-growers,  especially  in  the  south  of  France,  report 
enormous  crops  on  vines  grafted  on  Rupestris  St.  George. 

Following  are  descriptions  of  the  three  varieties  of  resistant 
stock  which  at  present  give  the  most  promise  of  being  adapted 
to  California.  The  leaves  of  the  three  varieties  are  shown  on 
the  title-page: 

Riparia  Gloire  de  Montpellier.  (Synonyms:  Riparia  Por- 
talis,  Riparia  Michel,  Riparia  Saporta.)  This  is  one  of  the 
most  vigorous  of  all  the  varieties  of  Riparia  and  is  equaled 
only  by  the  Riparia  grande  glabre  and  the  Scribner  Riparia. 
The  stem  or  trunk  is  thick;  canes  spreading,  long,  with  elon- 
gated internodes  of  medium  thickness,  slightly  bent  at  the 
nodes  (giving  the  canes  a  faint  zigzag  appearance),  of  a  light 
nut  color,  smooth,  rather  shining,  and  a  little  pruinose  near 
the  eyes  when  the  wood  is  well  ripened;  young  shoots  of 
a  light  purple;  leaves  large  to  very  large,  thick,  elongated, 
somewhat  bulging  between  the  main  nerves,  dark  green  and 
shining  on  the  upper  surface,  lighter  green  on  the  under  side, 
with  a  few  stiff  hairs  on  the  ribs;  the  petiolar  sinus  is  open, 
U-shaped;  the  upper  lobes  are  well  marked  by  large,  elongated 
teeth,  the  lower  barely  marked  at  all;  the  teeth  are  sharply 
pointed  and  in  two  series  (see  figure  on  title-page).  The  roots 
are  slender  and  spreading  like  all  varieties  of  Riparia  (see 
Fig.  IX).     Resistance  to  phylloxera,  18. 


—  37  — 

Rupestris  St.  George.  (Synonyms:  Rupestris  du  Lot,  Rupes- 
tris  Phenomene,  Rupestris  Sijas,  Rupestris  Monticola,  Rupestris 
St.  Georges  erige,  Rupestris  Lacastelle,  Rupestris  Colineau, 
Rupestris  Reich,  Rupestris  Richter.)  This  variety  is  extremely 
vigorous  and  produces  a  very  strong,  thick  stem;  canes  erect 
(the  main  laterals  spreading),  with  short  internodes  and  prom- 
inent nodes;  leaves  small,  wider  than  long,  with  metallic  sheen, 
undulating  edges,  and  relatively  thin,  those  of  the  laterals 
often  very  small  and  somewhat  bronzed  near  the  tips.  In  hot 
weather  the  leaves  fold  in  two  at  the  mid-rib,  but  less  than 
most  varieties  of  Rupestris.  The  roots  are  long  and  strong 
and  not  so  slender  as  those  of  other  varieties  of  Rupestris. 
Resistance  to  phylloxera,  16. 

Solonis.  A  vigorous,  strong  grower;  canes  spreading,  with 
patches  of  whitish  hairs,  which  become  light  brownish-gray  in 
autumn;  leaves  of  medium  size,  upper  lobes  marked  by  very 
long  teeth,  lower  lobes  lacking;  teeth  very  long-acuminate,  in 
two  series;  petiolar  sinus  widely  open.  The  leaves  are  covered 
with  white  web-like  hairs  above  when  young,  becoming  almost 
glabrous  when  old,  except  on  the  ribs  and  petiole.  Roots 
strong  and  intermediate  in  direction  between  those  of  Riparia 
and  Rupestris  (see  Fig.  IX).     Resistance  to  phylloxera,  14. 

Summary. 

1.  Every  grape-grower  should  insure  against  phylloxera  by 
testing  the  most  promising  resistant  vines  on  his  own  place 
and  by  learning  the  methods  of  bench-grafting. 

2.  It  is  unsafe  to  attempt  operations  on  a  large  scale  with 
cuttings  imported  from  abroad,  on  account  of  the  danger  of 
injury  to  such  cuttings  on  the  journey. 

3.  A  cutting-graft  of  suitable  varieties  makes  as  large  and 
vigorous  growth  as  a  simple  cutting,  so  that  by  the  method  of 
bench-grafting  no  time  is  lost  in  establishing  a  resistant  vine- 
yard. 

4.  Resistant  varieties  which  are  difficult  to  root  but  easy  to 
graft  when  old,  such  as  Lenoir,  should  not  be  bench-grafted. 

5.  Care  in  callusing,  planting,  and  treatment  in  nursery, 
and  especially  in  keeping  the  grafts  moist  from  the  time  the}7 
are  made  till  they  are  in  the  callusing  bed,  will  enable  even  an 


—  38  — 

inexperienced  grafter  to  obtain  at  least  60%  of  good,  grafted 
plants. 

6.  The  bluestone  should  be  washed  off  the  outside  of  the 
raffia  before  tying,  or  it  will  injure  the  bark  of  the  graft. 

7.  Callusing  in  sand  insures  more  perfect  unions  and  a 
larger  percentage  of  successful  grafts  than  planting  directly  in 
the  nursery. 

8.  The  moisture  in  the  callusing  bed  should  not  be  exces- 
sive, and  the  temperature  should  be  relatively  warm. 

9.  The  growing  grafts  should  be  watched  closely  in  order  to 
see  that  the  roots  of  the  scions  are  removed  before  they  become 
large,  and  that  the  raffia  is  cut  before  it  strangles  the  graft. 

10.  The  English  cleft  graft  is  preferable  to  the  Champin 
graft,  because  it  gives  more  perfect  unions  and  can  be  made 
with  more  accuracy  and  rapidity. 

11.  Scions  of  two  eyes  are  preferable  to  those  of  one  eye,  as 
they  give  more  chances  of  success. 

12.  Rupestris  St.  George  seems  to  be  remarkably  adapted  to 
California  soils  (except  the  heaviest  clays)  and  conditions,  and 
is  to  be  preferred  to  any  variety  yet  tested  here  wherever  deep 
penetration  of  roots  is  possible  and  desirable. 

13.  All  the  eyes  of  the  Rupestris  stock  should  be  cut  out 
deeply  and  carefully. 

14.  A  vigorous  and  large-growing  vinifera  scion  promotes  an 
equally  vigorous  and  large  growth  of  Rupestris  St.  George 
used  as  stock. 


